THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


C378 

UK3 

1886V 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00039136826 


This  book  must  not 
be  token  from  the 
Librory  building. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressbeforelitOOvanw 


ADDRESS 


BEFORE   THE 


Literary  Societies 


OF 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


By  Hon.  AUGUSTUS  VAN  WYCK. 


RALEIGH  : 

EDWARDS,    BROUGHTON    &    CO.,    POWER    PRINTERS    AND  BINDERS. 
1886. 


ADDRESS. 


Respected  Sir,  Ladies  and  Gentleuien  : 

The  old,  old  story  of  education  in  all  its  relations  to 
every  branch  of  progress  has  been  told  again  and  again  by 
the  profoundest  thinkers,  ripest  scholars  and  most  eloquent 
tongues.  It  has  been  so  often  repeated  that  nothing  novel 
can  be  hoped  for  at  this  time,  and  I  can  assure  you  that 
never  was  the  performance  of  a  duty  imposed  and  assumed 
approached  with  more  anxious  misgivings  than  this  one.  In- 
consistent fears  of  opposite  extremes  confront  me.  Wafted 
back  on  the  wings  of  memory,  dear  to  college  days,  there 
stands  a  student's  timidity  ;  cognizant  of  a  living  present, 
there  stands  a  conscious  dread  that  too  much  will  be  ex- 
pected from  an  alumnus,  in  your  forgetfulness  that  there  is 
but  an  infinitessimal  difference  between  the  height  of  youth 
and  that  of  man.  It  was  not  with  any  egotistical  pride,  or 
even  remote  hope  of  adding  a  gleam  of  light  to  this  bril- 
liant occasion,  that  this  invitation  was  accepted. 

Members  of  the  Dialectic  and  Philanthropic  Societies,  I 
am  with  you  to-day  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  a  manly 
affection  for  the  historic  society  that  mothered  me  in  youth,, 
and  was  then  most  generous  with  honors,  as  well  as  with. 
kind  feelings  now  ;  in  response  to  the  high  esteem  and  deep 
regard,  fruitage  of  honorable  competition,  entertained  for 
her  sister  society,  and  in  willing  and  most  pleasurable  sub- 
mission to  the  ever  imperious  demands  of  sincere  gratitude 
to  this  grand  old  institution,  which  for  a  century  has  been 
intensely  faithful  and  loyal  to  the  mission  of  equipping  her 
children  for  the  perilous  march  over  the  limitless  plain  of 
human  activities,  even  unto  the  Golden  Gates  of  the  world 
to  come.  Such  emotions  prompted  me  to  revisit  these 
sacred  precincts  and  ascend  once  again  the  college  rostrum 
overlooking  a  scene   of  splendor  that  can   never  fade  from 


4  ADDRESS. 

memory  so  long  as  the  soul  shall  be  incarnate  ;  such  a  liv- 
ing human  sea  of  beauty,  culture  and  refinement — not  of 
strangers  to  this  institution  or  aliens  to  her  interests — has 
never  been  surpassed  ;  gathered  under  the  protecting  shade 
of  classic  halls,  in  homage  to  an  institution  of  learning,  their 
own  or  their  fathers'  alma  mater,  words  always  talismanic  in 
their  influence  on  her  sons,  words  that  have  whispered  to 
them  when  in  despair,  encouragement,  when  flushed  with 
success,  congratulation. 

You  come,  not  to  hear  me,  but  the  annual  proclamation 
that  the  young  men  of  another  class,  full  of  hope  and  prom- 
ise of  future  usefulness  and  honors,  have  been  armed  with 
the  helmet  of  knowledge,  the  shield  of  morality,  the  spear 
of  incisive  thought  and  the  glistening  and  untarnished  sword 
of  honor,  ready  to  enlist  in  the  army  of  the  world's  workers. 

The  sight  of  these  scenes,  the  first  time  since  graduation, 
is  one  of  mixed  sadness  and  pleasure  ;  the  commingling  of 
the  things  of  the  past  and  present  and  the  thoughts  of  the 
dead  and  living  ;  so  many  of  the  professors,  students  and 
villagers  whom  I  knew  so  well  and  regarded  so  highly  have 
been  translated  to  the  "  Temple  not  made  with  hands,"  yet 
how  charming  to  meet,  after  long  separation,  the  living 
friends  of  one's  youth,  to  stroll  over  this  lovely  campus 
under  its  majestic  oaks,  and  through  the  buildings,  libraries 
.and  halls,  once  the  home  of  your  youth,  awakening  most 
■delightful  reminiscences  of  that  ever  hopeful  age. 

I  truly  envy  those  whose  precious  privilege  it  is  to  make 
an  annual  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  their  alma  mater. 
Where  they  can  quaff  the  refreshing  nectar  of  the  fountain 
of  youth  ;  where  they  can  breathe  the  pure  scholastic  air, 
and  thus  clarify  the  moral  and  political  malaria  so  often  sur- 
rounding us  in  the  concrete  thoughts  of  practical  life  ;  where 
they  can  renew  their  devotion  in  all  its  freshness  to  litera- 
ture for  its  own  pure  sake,  which  is  in  constant  danger  of 
being  killed  by  the  spirit  of  the  world,  or  smothered  in  the 
stifling  atmosphere  of  an  exclusively  business  life.  They 
go  hence  stronger  and  better  men.     It  is  not  time  lost. 


ADDRESS.  •  5 

It  is  an  honor  indeed  to  respond  to  your  most  compli- 
mentary invitation,  and  especially  so  in  this  "  Memorial 
Hall,"  beautiful  in  architecture,  which,  though  new  in  con- 
struction and  fresh  from  the  handiwork  of  the  mason's 
plumb  and  trowel,  yet  is  rich  and  bristling  with  the  wonder- 
ful traditions  of  a  great  State  and  nation  for  more  than  a 
century.  Those  whom  it  commemorates,  a  roll  of  honor 
too  numerous  to  call  on  this  occasion,  speak  to  us  in  person 
of  the  great  achievements  in  the  struggle  of  man's  advance- 
ment on  this  continent  ;  of  the  events  in  the  growth  of  self 
government  in  the  colonies;  of  the  development  of  a  coun- 
try once  solely  the  habitation  of  the  savage  ;  of  Indian  wars  ; 
of  open  and  successful  resistance  to  England's  Stamp  Act 
in  1766,  nearly  eight  years  before  that  against  the  tea  tax 
at  Boston ;  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, prior  to  that  of  1776  at  Philadelphia  ;  of  the  battle 
fields  of  a  seven  years'  war  to  make  both  a  reality;  of  the 
trials  of  a  Continental  Congress  ;  of  the  deliberations  of  a 
Constitutional  Convention,  where  was  conceived  and  formu- 
lated a  constitution  for  a  federal  confederated  representative 
republic,  the  first  known  to  history;  of  soldiers  of  bravery, 
patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  never  eclipsed  ;  of  those  that 
graced  and  honored  the  chair  of  the  Chief  Executives  of 
States  and  nation,  and  legislative  halls  of  both  ;  of  those 
that  were  members  of  cabinet  and  representatives  at  foreign 
Courts  ;  of  judges  of  Federal  and  State  Courts  ;  and  of 
those  adorning  all  the  professions  and  avocations  of  a  mighty 
commonwealth. 

The  central  figure  of  all  those  so  justly  celebrated  is  the 
lawyer,  judge,  legislator,  governor,  historian  and  educator, 
all  united  in  one,  David  L.  Swain,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able men  of  the  age.  He  surveyed  from  the  mountain  peaks 
of  the  Blue  Ridge  all  the  varied  necessities  of  his  State,  and 
discerned  the  alpine  need  of  them  all  ;  and  through  a  pro- 
fessional and  political  career  most  rapid,  useful  and  illustri- 
ous, this  mountaineer,  in  ten  short  years,  leaped  to  the  head 
and  front  of  the  cause  of  education.    He  was  a  true  man,  a 


6  ADDRESS. 

great  teacher  and  a  superb  organizer  and  disciplinarian.  The 
Nestor  of  College  Presidents,  whose  death  not  only  touched 
the  University,  but  ev^ery  heart  that  beats  throughout  the 
State  in  sympathy  with  the  interest  of  learning  and  science. 

Years  ago  I  entered  the  collegiate  department  of  this 
University.  It  was  in  most  trying  and  troublesome  times  ; 
civil  war  had  commenced  its  sad  work  of  human  carnage  ; 
alarm  and  intense  excitement  pervaded  the  atmosphere  and 
filled  the  minds  of  all,  found  their  way  to  the  professor's 
sanctum  and  the  student's  room.  Under  such  unpropitious 
and  unfavorable  circumstances  we  then  attempted  to  drink 
freely  at  this  Pierian  Spring.  The  young  men  of  this  day 
are  to  be  congratulated  that  they  have  been  able  to  pursue 
their  studies  under  more  auspicious  surroundings,  and  that 
the  bloody  and  wasting  revolution,  angry  offspring  of  con- 
flicting interests  and  ideas,  has  forever  settled  the  questions 
that  so  long  distracted  and  monopolized  the  American  mind 
to  the  exclusion  of  others  most  needful.  These  issues  were 
submitted  to  the  wager  of  battle,  the  last  that  should  be 
resorted  to,  in  which  soldiers  of  the  gallantry  of  the  six 
hundred  at  Balaklava,  faced  in  deadly  array  soldiers  of  the 
valor  of  the  old  guard  at  Waterloo.  A  contest  for 
courage,  numbers  engaged  and  killed,  means  expended  and 
influence  on  the  destiny  of  the  world  itself,  has  no  parallel 
in  history.  But  grander  and  stranger  than  all  these  is  the 
sequel  :  these  hostile  forces  in  a  few  years  brought  together 
as  brothers  of  old,  with  equal  ardor  for  and  the  same  pride 
in  the  one  Union,  rejoicing  in  the  preservation  of  both  the 
moral  and  physical  integrity  of  the  nation,  and  that  there 
is  a  radiant  star  for  each  State  and  a  sovereign  State  for 
each  star  upon  the  flag  of  our  common  country. 

What  produced  this  result  in  the  face  of  so  many  adverse 
precedents?  It  was  due  to  the  wise  scheme  of  government 
that  the  founder  of  this  University  and  his  associates  de- 
vised and  crystalized  into  form  ;  to  the  enlightenment  and 
morality  of  an  educated  people  ;  to  the  fact  that  the  same 
undying  honor  that  moved  the  Southern  soldier  to  heroic 


ADDRESS.  7 

deeds  on  her  battle  fields,  moved  him  in  good  faith  to  ac- 
quiesce in  the  decision  of  the  bloody  arbitration  selected. 
A  spectacle  so  strange  in  the  annals  of  time  many  doubted 
and  disbelieved  for  a  time,  but  both  the  honor  and  good 
faith  of  the  Southerner  were  so  strongly  impressed  that  the 
citizens  of  the  entire  republic  have  solemnly  declared,  in 
due  form  of  law,  their  mutual  confidence  in  and  respect  for 
each  other.  And  none  regret,  but  all  rejoice,  that  it  has  been 
decreed  forever  that  this  is  constitutionally  an  indestructi- 
ble union,  and  that  the  spirit  of  fraternity  reigns  supreme 
throughout  a  country  so  great  that  it  can  and  does  count 
the  Southern  valor  and  Northern  valor  as  joint  assets  in  the 
estate  of  its  fame  ;  a  people  so  noble  that  heart  and  intel- 
lect have  conquered  hate  and  prejudice. 

According  to  science  and  the  book  of  books,  the  Bible, 
man  was  last  in  order  of  creation  and  more  richly  endowed 
with  gifts  than  all  living  creatures.  He  was  made  a  free 
agent,  with  mind  to  think,  voice  to  speak,  and  vitality  to 
act,  with  the  single  restriction  that  he  must  not  and  cannot 
use  these  powers  in  violation  of  God's  or  nature's  laws, 
without  exposing  himself  to  their  penalty.  Let  him  use 
them  well  and  he  shall  have  dominion  over  the  earth,  ani- 
mate and  inanimate  ;  he  shall  be  enabled  to  subdue  the 
powers  of  nature  and  combine  and  separate  them  according 
to  his  want  ;  he  shall  be  master  of  the  earth,  covering  it 
with  harvest  and  homes,  villages  and  cities  ;  master  of  the 
sea,  covering  it  with  ships  floating  at  ease  over  its  unfath- 
omed  abysses  ;  master  of  the  elements,  fire,  air,  light  and 
water,  docile  slaves  of  his  sovereign  will  ;  utilizer  of  the 
beasts  of  the  land,  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  fish  of  the  water  ; 
and  the  possessor  of  things  of  beauty  and  usefulness.  These 
immeasured  and  immeasurable  blessings  bestowed  only  on 
man,  carried  with  them  their  correlative  responsibilities,  for 
every  privilege  has  its  corresponding  duty.  These  benefac- 
tions, in  their  vastness  and  generousness,  impel  man  nearer 
to  Divinity  than  all  living  creatures.  He  says  :  use  them, 
but  obey  the  laws  supreme  over  them.     They  were  confided 


5  ADDRESS. 

to  man,  not  for  purely  selfish  purposes,  but  in  trust  for  his 
own  and  his  fellow  man's  welfare  and  advancement.  What 
we  term  progress  or  retrogression,  is  the  mere  record  of 
how  these  far  reaching  and  all  pervading  responsibilities 
have  been  fulfilled  or  neglected. 

The  Holy  Record,  of  admitted  antiquity,  reveals  that 
their  repudiation  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  man  from  the 
beauties  and  comforts  of  Eden,  and  then  in  the  destruction 
of  all  save  a  single  family.  Now,  be  this  as  it  may,  be  it  a 
Divine  revelation,  authentic  history,  or  a  romance,  the  con- 
text of  that  great  Book  proves  beyond  dispute  that  a  high 
degree  of  learning  and  wisdom  existed  in  the  times  of  Moses, 
David,  Solomon  and  Paul  respectively  ;  the  first,  brought  up 
as  a  member  of  the  royal  family  of  Egypt,  was  versed  in 
the  wisdom  of  that  country;  the  Psalms  of  the  second,  in 
their  sublimity  and  tender  and  touching  pathos,  are  still  the 
most  fitting  strains  of  devotional  raptures  ;  the  Proverbs 
and  songs  of  the  third,  who  asked  not  for  riches  or  long  life, 
but  understanding,  have  been  the  delight  and  wonder  of 
all  ages;  the  fourth  was  a  man  of  the  highest  intelligence 
and  rarest  attainments. 

Purely  profane  history,  at  least,  discloses  that  the  world 
reached  a  wondrous  development  of  wisdom,  challenging 
our  own  boasted  civilization. 

Grecian  literature  is  the  miracle  in  the  phenomena  of  the 
human  mind  and  soul.  In  Greece  there  was  an  intensely 
original  creative  force  which  has  never  been  transcended. 
There  had  been  vast  and  powerful  empires  and  cities  before, 
but  you  must  look  to  Greece  for  the  parentage  of  profane 
history,  epic  poetry,  tragedy,  forensic  eloquence  and  philoso- 
phy, and  there  you  will  find  Heroditus,  Homer,  ^schylus 
Demosthenes  and  Socrates. 

In  Greece,  literature,  arts,  philosophy  and  civilization 
reached  a  degree  of  perfection  and  an  altitude  never  before 
touched,  if  indeed  attained  since. 

To  what  causes  are  these  marvelous  results  to  be  ascribed  ? 
These  causes  once  ascertained  and   fixed,  you  will  discover 


ADDRESS.  9 

that  to  the  blind  disregard  of  them,  the  subsequent  decline 
was  due.  Free  agency,  developed  and  understood,  was  the 
rock  foundation  upon  which  was  raised  the  edifice  of  free 
institutions  ;  a  temple  that  has  and  ever  will  crumble  into 
dust,  if  exposed  to  the  atmospheric  action  of  immorality 
and  ignorance. 

The  influence  of  free  institutions  and  popular  education 
is  the  source,  doubtless,  from  which  all  the  civilization  that 
existed  in  Greece  flowed.  It  was  a  government  of  the  peo- 
ple for  a  people  who  had  been  educated.  Schools  and 
school-masters  were  essential  elements  in  their  social  system. 
Plato  says,  as  soon  as  the  distinction  between  right  and 
wrong  was  impressed  by  the  parent  upon  the  child,  he  was 
sent  to  school  to  be  instructed  in  "reading,  writing,  music 
and  orderly  habits,"  which  fitted  him  for  self-training  as  a 
citizen,  and  for  further  training  in  rhetoric  and  philosophy 
to  be  pursued  at  the  Academy  and  Lyceum.  They  recog- 
nized the  necessity  of  both  popular  and  higher  education. 
Grecian  civilization  was  transplanted  to  other  lands  ;  to 
Ephesus,  where  the  "  Temple  of  Diana  "  was  the  depository 
of  the  most  perfect  works  of  the  greatest  artists  of  antiquity, 
the  painting  by  Apelles,  of  Alexander  grasping  a  thunder- 
bolt, the  picture  of  the  Goddess,  by  Timante,  the  first  female 
artist  upon  record,  and  the  matchless  works  of  many  others  ; 
to  Alexandria,  affluent  in  her  libraries,  museums,  schools  of 
arts,  sciences,  rhetoric,  medicine,  mathematics  and  theology; 
to  Rome  whose  poets,  orators  and  philosophers  translated 
Homer,  Demosthenes  a:id  Plato. 

Rome  physically  conquered  the  world  and  became  an 
empire  of  strength  and  statesmen,  but  was  subdued  by  the 
arts  and  learning  of  Greece.  Her  best  scholars  were  educa- 
ted there.  Thus  the  learning  of  Greece  advanced  the  world 
to  a  remarkable  condition  of  civilization,  of  which  Athens 
and  Rome  were  two  mighty  monuments.  But  in  time  Ro- 
man love  of  conquest  and  spoils  became  the  dominating 
spirit  of  that  empire,  and  then  there  came  a  decay  of  that 
learning  and  civilization  ;  a  mighty  cloud  of  decline  covered 


lO  ADDRESS. 

the  world  with  blight,  a  black  night  of  desolation  to  human 
hopes  and  progress.     During  that  long  night  of  intellectual 
darkness,  nearly  every  vestige  of  ancient  learning  and  civ- 
ilization was  effaced.     The  Archseologist  of  this  day  is  still 
delving  amid  the  ruins  of  the  past  to  uncover  them   to  the 
view  once  again.     The  dawn  of  light  disclosed  that  a  total 
failure  to  appreciate  the  responsibility  of  self  to  self  and  to 
others,  imposed  by  the  dominion  given  man  over  the  world 
in  all  things  save  his  fellow  man,  had  destroyed  free  agency; 
and  free  thought,  free  expression  and   free  action  we're  fet- 
tered, chained  and  enslaved.     In  this  age  and  country,  it  is 
most  difficult  to  believe  that  the  naked  right  to  think  was 
ever  denied  man.     The  stake,  dungeon,  gibbet,  and  inquisi- 
tion, all  affirm  it  beyond  contradiction.     Huss  and  Galileo, 
and  a  long  list  of  associates,  were  victims  or  martyrs  to  this 
tyranny.      The  contest,  waged  so    long  between    Hellenic 
civilization  and  Oriental  despotism,  had  to  be  fought  over 
again  ;  the  fallen  therein  can  never  be  counted.     This  des- 
potism had  become  so  firmly  established  that   the  success 
of    the   revolution    for  the    emancipation   of    free  thought, 
-expression  and  action,  was  gradual  and  slow  indeed.     Man 
had    to   struggle  with  himself,  against  the   prejudices  and 
superstitions  that  hovered  around  his  birth  and  became  a 
part  of  him  from  infancy  ;  then,  with  his  fellow  man,  for  the 
right  of  expression  ;  and  lastly,  with  rulers  of  church  and 
nation,  for  freedom  of  action,  the  application  of  his  thoughts 
to  the  practical  affairs  of  life.     This  revolution,  sometimes 
in  silence  and   sometimes  in    noisy  war,  went   on   for  ages, 
•gaining  slowly  the  rights  belonging  to   free  agency.      The 
final  and  fortuitous  culmination  of  these  bloody  wars,  waged 
for  the  right  to  think,  was  the  discovery  of  this  hemisphere 
by   Columbus,  where  the   liberty  to  think   and   speak  was 
crowned  with  the  triumph  of  freedom  of  action,  where,  at  a 
cost  that  to  us  would  seem  most   burdensome,  severance  of 
the  ties  of  home  and  kindred,  an  asylum  was  found  for  their 
exercise. 

The  seventeenth  century  marked  a  mighty  exodus  from 


ADDRESS.  II 

Europe  to  America,  the  importance  of  which,  to  man's  ad- 
vancement, was  not  second  to  that  of  Moses  from  Egj-pt. 

The  bold,  manly,  restless  and  determined  spirits  and  firm 
believers  in  the  freedom  of  mind,  expatriated  themselves 
from  native  lands,  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  wilderness 
of  the  new  continent.  There  came  Englishman  with  his 
tenacity  of  purpose,  Scotchman  with  his  love  of  philosophy, 
Celt  with  his  ever  irrepressible  agitation  for  the  greatest  lib- 
erty, Hollander  with  his  inherited  fondness  for  work  and 
freedom,  Frenchman  with  his  vivacity  of  spirit,  German 
with  his  thrift  and  learning,  and  so  on  from  all  nations. 

Loneliness  of  position,  self-protection  against  the  toma- 
hawk of  the  scalping  savage,  self-interest,  trade,  commerce 
and  social  instincts,  all  combined  to  bring  them  together, 
intermarrying  and  living  and  working,  under  divine  guidance, 
in  harmony  for  the  common  benefit  ;  each  lifted  to  a  higher 
plane  by  the  aid  and  presence  of  the  other  ;  and  thus  the 
seed  of  free  government  and  greater  mental  development 
was  sown  broadcast  over  the  continent.  These  subtle  forces 
were  silently  working  results  never  dreamt  of  by  the  states- 
man, philanthropist  or  political  economist.  The  law  of  com- 
pensation reveals  that  every  race  excels  in  some  respect, 
and  as  the  blood  of  these  different  races  mixed  and  com- 
mingled in  the  veins  of  the  people,  mental  strength  increas- 
ed ;  moral  vigor  advanced  ;  national  prejudices,  habits  and 
customs,  that  once  in  their  conflict  seemed  to  have  forbid- 
den ihe  unification  of  the  colonies,  \w  re  amalgamated  ;  the 
best  traits  of  each  survived,  and  the  pernicious  ones  were 
obliterated,  and  a  new  race  was  created,  "  the  American,'' 
without  which  this  nation,  a  marvel  in  the  world's  history, 
could  never  have  existed. 

Great  effects  are  due  to  great  causes  and  not  to  small 
ones.  "  A  spark  only  lights  a  vast  conflagration  when  it 
falls  upon  combustible  material  previously  collected."  Gen- 
eral causes,  whether  moral  or  ph}'sical,  direct  the  world's 
destiny. 

In  1776,  the  condition  of  the  American  colonies  was  such 


12  ADDRESS. 

that  the  tea  tax,  of  trifling  burden,  was  the  spark  that  set 
aflame  the  accunnulated  spirit  of  free  thought,  voicing  the 
principle  of  free  agency  and  founding  a  government  there- 
upon, that  "  all  men  were  born  equal,"  not  in  strength  of 
mind  or  body,  but  in  the  right  to  enter  the  race  of  life  and 
contend  before  impartial  judges,  the  full  jury  of  one's  coun- 
trymen, for  the  prizes  great  and  small  ;  that  the  people 
were  sovereigns,  a  government  of  collective  thought. 

The  inspired  leaders  that  impelled  the  world  forward  in 
this  great  stride  of  human  progress,  knew  well  that  its  per- 
fection and  perpetuation  must  rest  upon  developed  thought,^ 
men  trained  for  the  contest  and  clothed  with  the  wisdom  of 
the  ruler.  North  Carolina  was  the  first  to  stamp  its  recog- 
nition upon  the  organic  law.  Read  it  in  her  constitution  of 
1776,  written  in  golden  letters,  that  schools  for  the  conven- 
ient education  of  children,  and  a  University  for  the  encour- 
agement and  promotion  of  all  useful  learning,  shall  be  estab- 
lished. The  fame  of  him  who  penned  these  words  of  light 
can  never  be  extinguished  till  the  world  itself  shall  be  hurled 
out  of  its  orbit  through  infinite  space  and  broken  into  dis- 
integrating fragments  against  worlds  greater  and  larger  than 
it.     All  hail  his  name  ! 

Davie  and  his  associates,  as  soon  as  the  martial  uniform 
and  arms  were  laid  aside,  aroused  from  slumber  the  man- 
date of  the  constitution,  and  breathed  life  and  vitality  in 
the  infant  University' — a  living  and  ever  enduring  monu- 
ment to  their  glory,  speaking  through  her  scholars  in  every 
hamlet  of  this  State  and  in  every  State,  grander  than  was 
ever  raised  to  the  military  heroes  of  empire.  This  Univer- 
sity can  stand,  in  the  sunlight  of  the  19th  century,  the  cru- 
cial test  of  successful,  useful  and  influential  lives  of  her  stu- 
dents and  their  students  in  every  walk  of  human  endeavor. 

Her  doors  have  been  open  from  birth  till  now,  except  for 
a  few  years,  when  strange  gods,  made  mad  and  soon  10  be 
destroyed,  desecrated  her  pure  bosom,  mistaking  the  influ- 
ence and  power  of  her  teachings  in  men,  for  these  dumb 
walls. 


ADDRESS..  13 

She  was  born  of  the  practical  idea,  underlying  the  whole 
fabric  of  our  institutions,  that  the  rulers — the  people — must 
be  made  intelligent,  or  a  government  by  them  will  be  either 
a  farce  or  a  tragedy,  even  under  an  absolute  despotism.  The 
theory  is  that  he  must  know  the  law,  for  at  his  peril  he  must 
obey.  In  this  country  the  voter  not  only  obeys  the  law — 
directly  or  indirectly,  by  action  or  by  neglect — he  makes,  in- 
terprets and  executes  it ;  his  is  the  originating  and  guiding 
brain  as  well  as  the  obedient  hand. 

The  mere  accumulation  of  knowledge  is  not  education, 
nor  is  it  wisdom  ;  and  for  this  reason,  the  chief  purpose  of 
this  college  has  not  been  to  store  the  mind  with  facts  of 
history,  but  to  develop  the  moral  nature  of  the  student 
upon  whom  the  mother  has  already  strongly  impressed  the 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong  ;  and  then  to  train  his 
mind,  teaching  him  to  think  and  reason,  drilling  and  strength- 
ening the  faculties  in  need  thereof,  and  pruning  and  repress- 
ing those  in  need  thereof,  so  that  the  resultant  will  be  a 
sound  and  healthy  mind,  balanced  and  adjusted  in  all  its 
parts  and  functions  ;  teaching  him  the  best  methods  of  ac- 
quiring knowlege  and  cultivating  the  habit  of  learning  ;  to 
wrestle  for  the  time  with  abstract  thought  rather  than  with 
the  concrete,  though  these  are  always  in  some  degree  inter- 
woven ;  preparing  him  to  continue,  without  the  aid  of 
teacher,  the  development  only  commenced,  for  graduation 
is  only  a  mile  stone  on  the  highway  of  development.  He 
must  then  employ  the  complicated  powers  and  forces  of 
mind  in  the  fields  of  actual  practice. 

The  plow,  sinking  shallow  or  deep  in  the  soil ;  the  intri- 
cate machinery  of  the  factory,  moving  with  accuracy  and 
without  friction  ;  the  needle  gun  and  minie  rifle,  sending 
the  ball  with  precision  to  the  desired  object  ;  the  diamond 
drill,  penetrating  to  the  places  of  the  hidden  treasures  of 
the  earth  ;  the  lens  of  the  telescope,  carrying  the  human  eye 
to  the  secret  places  of  the  skies;  and  chemical  action,  ana- 
lyzing and  commingling  the  properties  of  bodies  for  use  ;  all 
think,  when  moved  to  action  by  the  will  of  man  who  thinks. 


14  ADDRESS. 

There  is  no  royal  road  to  learning  and  wisdom.  The  mind 
must  be  exercised  and  disciplined,  and  the  regular  collegiate 
course,  notwithstanding  the  bitter  denunciations  lately 
directed  against  it,  is  best  adapted  to  accomplish  that  end 
in  a  four  years'  term  for  classes  of  young  men,  ranging  from 
fifteen  to  twenty,  of  average  capacity  and  preparation. 
They  then  have  acquired  an  index  to  the  innumerable 
branches  of  human  knowledge  and  industries,  and  their 
minds  have  been  suflficiently  disciplined  to  select  and  pursue 
one  of  these  to  its  legitimate  end  with  advantage  and  suc- 
cess. Our  colleges  aie  truly  American  institutions,  grandly 
working  in  co-operation  with  the  scheme  of  thirty-eight  (38) 
State  governments,  united  under  one  government,  exer- 
cising delegated  functions  relating  to  the  joint  necessities 
of  all.  Each  State  has  its  college,  where  her  sons  gather 
and  are  taught  to  think  upon  the  facts  evolved  from  the 
industries,  interests,  lives  of  the  people,  and  the  diversified 
nature  of  the  State.  The  legislatures  of  the  States  give 
diversity  of  legislation,  and  the  Colleges  of  the  States  give 
diversity  of  thought.  And  when  an  American  Congress 
convenes,  whether  scientific  or  legislative,  the  members  do 
not  voice  the  ideas  of  a  single  professor  or  institution,  but 
of  many  schools  of  thought,  from  every  conceivable  stand- 
point ;  and  better  results  are  reached,  for  just  as  flint  upon 
flint  throws  off  the  spark,  so  the  conflict  of  ideas  of  educated 
men  has  enlightened  the  world.  Save  us  from  a  people  of 
the  supineness  of  assimilated  ideas  on  all  subjects.  And  for 
this  reason,  the  tendency  of  the  State  to  look  to  Federal 
government  for  the  means  to  educate  the  people,  is  to  be 
deprecated,  for  it  will  destroy  self  reliance  and  responsi- 
bility, the  cornerstone  of  community  independence;  and  the 
contribution  will  in  time  be  followed  by  supervision  of  its 
application,  appointment  of  teachers,  and  the  direction  of 
opinions  to  be  taught  or  repressed,  and  will  endanger  the 
rights  of  States,  centralizing  ideas  .and  power — a  constant 
menace  to  freedom  of  mind  and  action. 

The  conditions   of   our  institutions  and   country   during 


ADDRESS.  15, 

this  century  have  been  most  conducive  to  the  era  of  the 
great  progress  that  has  marked  it.  There  was  the  rich  soiL 
with  mental  seed  and  moral  atmosphere  which  brought  forth 
a  harvest  most  prolific. 

Progressive  development  has  been  wondrous  indeed  in- 
answer  to  the  ever  increasing  demands  of  man,  as  a  living, 
breathing,  seeing,  hearing,  thinking,  speaking,  social  and 
dying  free-agent.  Measured  by  the  age  of  the  individual, 
slow,  but  by  the  age  of  all  time,  swift.  From  the  savage  to 
the  cultured  gentleman  ;  cave  to  modern  homes  ;  foot  to 
horse  ;  oar  to  sail ;  and  from  these  to  Titan  steam  driving, 
moving  palaces  over  and  through  mountains  and  across  the 
waters  of  the  briny  deep  and  the  unsalted  seas  of  the  inte- 
rior;  courier  to  electricity  harnessed  as  a  messenger;  the 
music  of  the  human  voice,  audible  only  a  few  feet  and  lost 
forever  to  vocal  sound,  transmitted  to  startling  distances 
through  the  telephone,  and  preservable  for  ages  in  the  pho- 
nograph ;  the  fickle  sun  picture  of  objects  reflected  upon 
the  water  mirror,  to  the  likeness  transferred  and  transfixed 
upon  substances  in  enduring  form  ;  garments  of  skins  of 
wild  animals  fastened  with  thongs,  to  the  machine  made  and 
sewed  fabrics  ;  substances  in  native  form,  to  those  changed 
and  shaped  by  man  at  his  will  for  his  use,  by  mechanical  and 
chemical  action  ;  marble  rough,  to  marble  chiseled  in  statues 
perfect  ;  the  healing  ingredients  and  sweet  perfumes,  separa- 
ted from  poisons  and  loathsome  odors  ;  conjurer,  to  skilled 
physician  and  surgeon  ;  muscle  unassisted,  to  gunpowder, 
steam  and  electricity,  obedient  to  the  will  of  man  ;  adobe 
architecture,  to  imposing  cathedrals  and  proud  capitals  ; 
brute  force,  to  persuasive  reasoning  ;  thoughts  spoken,  to 
thoughts  written  and  printed  for  exchange  with  the  living 
and  those  of  the  future  ;  superstitions  debasing,  to  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  materialists  and  idealist,  and  from  these  to 
philosophy  of  an  ego  and  non  ego,  the  thing  knowing  and 
the  thing  known  of ;  intellect  buried  in  ignorance,,  to  intel- 
lect set  at  liberty;  multiplicity  of  warring  gods  of  passions 
vile,  to  one  Supreme  Divinity,  all-knowing,. all-powerful  and 


4 


l6  ADDRESS. 

always  present,  regulating  the  action  of  the  subtle  forces  of 
nature  by  laws  of  uniform  order,  and  offering  immortal 
felicity  to  the  spirit  of  man  ;  conscience  buried  in  ignorance 
and  immorality,  to  conscience  cultured,  moral  and  free,  the 
tribunal  before  which  every  thought  and  act  of  man  must 
pass  in  judgment  of  approval  or  condemnation,  and  through 
which  the  mysteries  of  God,  self  and  the  world  must  be  dis- 
cerned and  detected. 

You  are  fortunate  in  the  age  you  have  been  born,  the 
fruitful  era  of  the  highest  civilization  yet  touched. 

You  are  fortunate  in  the  country  in  which  you  have  been 
reared,  which  is  second  to  none  in  prestige  and  power;  fore- 
most of  all  in  its  political  institutions,  in  the  security  of 
private  rights,  and  in  opportunities  for  individual  advance- 
ment. You  are  justified  in  feeling  a  pride  in  this  country, 
which  in  a  century  has  increased  and  enlarged  from  three 
4Tiillions  to  sixty  millions  citizens,  and  from  thirteen  to 
thirty-eight  States;  latticed  with  iron  rails  and  wires;  hills 
and  valleys  covered  with  farms  and  factories,  towns  and 
■cities,  schools  and  churches,  libraries  and  colleges.  In  wealth, 
invention,  discovery,  arts,  literature,  philosophy,  science  and 
all  achievements,  there  has  been  a  proportionate  advance. 
Such  ceaseless  activity  in  all  departments  of  progress  has 
never  been  exceeded.  Without  the  strength  and  stimulus 
of  education  these  advantages  can  nev^er  be  preserved.  Edu- 
cation is  the  most  economical,  if  not  the  only  defense  of 
the  prosperity  and  civilization  of  a  nation.  Such  progress 
makes  it  a  greater  necessity  than  ever.  In  a  social  system, 
the  relations  of  which  are  so  multiplied  and  intricate,  and 
growing  more  so,  the  duties  of  government,  of  the  profes- 
sional, business  and  laboring  man,  become  more  complex  ; 
and  greater  wisdom  is  needed  to  cope  with  them  ;  greater 
moral  vigor  to  resist  the  temptations  of  the  riches  incident 
thereto.  Accumulated  wealth  is  followed  by  organized 
capital  and  labor,  often  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  their  re- 
spective rights,  the  bias  of  self-interest  frequently  blinding 
each  as  to  what  are  their  rights  ;  virgin   soil   consumed   re- 


ADDRESS.  17 

quires  the  restoratives  of  science  ;  over-production  in  field 
and  factory  calls  for  new  markets;  commerce  enlarged,  more 
perfect  system  of  finance;  large  cities  exact  the  best  engi- 
neering and  hygienic  skill.  The  laws  of  political  economy 
applicable  to  such  conditions  are  more  difficult,  and  the 
laws  of  mechanics  more  essential.  Only  a  few  years  since  the 
Swiss  watch  product,  their  chief  industry,  was  driven  from 
the  markets  of  the  world  by  the  machine-made  watch  of 
our  own  country. 

This  outline  of  the  landmarks  of  progress  suggests  from 
whence  our  civilization  came,  and  where  it  is  ;  but  where  it 
shall  go,  whether  onward  and  upward  or  backward  and 
downward,  depends  upon  whether  or  not  each  generation 
will  arm  itself  with  all  the  weapons  necessary  to  a  full  per- 
formance of  the  duties  imposed  by  its  rich  gifts.  Sons  to  be 
equal  to  their  ancestors  must  be  better ;  they  have  the 
thoughts  and  works  of  the  latter  to  add  to.  To-day  is  no 
better  than  yesterday,  except  it  utilizes  the  experiences  of 
yesterday. 

All  the  constituent  elements  of  civilization  must  keep 
step  in  the  march.  Constant  readjustment  is  needed  to 
preserve  their  proper  relations.  One  must  not  dominate 
the  other  or  there  will  be  a  deformed  social  system,  either 
mentally,  morally  or  physically.  It  has  been  often  and  well 
said,  that  the  majesty  and  authority  of  civilized  government 
is  not  sui^cient.  Rome  had  these  under  a  republic  and 
empire  for  1,000  years.  Commerce  is  not  suf^cient.  Carth- 
age had  this.  Intellectual  culture  is  not  sufficient.  Greece 
had  this,  when  there  were  separate  States  and  a  confedera- 
tion of  States,  with  her  orators,  poets,  statesmen,  rhetori- 
cians and  philosophers.  The  elective  suffrage  is  not  suffi- 
cient. All  the  fallen  republics  of  the  past  had  this.  There 
must  be  a  harmonious  blending  and  co-operation  of  all  the 
elements  in  every  department  of  progress,  according  to  the 
requirements  of  the  community  and  age. 

Our  inventions,  discoveries  and  products  are  used  abroad, 
2 


I8  ADDRESS. 

and  the  reflex  influence  of  American  thought  has  been  felt 
in  Europe.  It  assisted  in  making  France  thrice  a  republic, 
and  her  people  in  gratitude  therefor  have  sent  to  us,  to  be 
placed  in  the  harbor  of  the  commercial  metropolis,  a  co- 
lossal statue  of  the  "  Goddess  of  Liberty,"  raising  high  to- 
ward the  heavens  in  her  uplifted  hand,  a  torch  to  beckon  to 
these  shores  the  ships  of  commerce  and  emigrants.  But 
lest  the  newcomers  be  deceived  and  misunderstand  the  vital 
spirit  of  our  institutions,  right  amid  the  commercial  and 
money  exchanges  of  that  city,  on  the  very  stone  and  spot 
of  his  inauguration,  stands  a  heroic  sized  statue  of  the  pure, 
able  and  christian  soldier  and  statesman,  George  Washing- 
ton, the  unrivaled,  to  warn  them  that  the  goddess  of  liberty 
or  reason  has  not  dethroned  the  King  of  Kings  in  this  land. 

American  thought  has  influenced  England  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  her  Prime  Minister  (Gladstone)  can  rise  under  the 
very  shadow  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  admonish  his 
courPtrymen  that  unity  of  boundless  empire  can  only  be 
maintained  by  diversity  of  legislation,  decentralization.  And 
this  reminds  us  that  our  young  men  should  learn  well  the 
constitution  of  their  own  country. 

Remember,  neither  to  underestimate  nor  overvalue  your 
strength — the  one  paralyzes  and  the  other  allures  to  danger- 
ous shoals;  that  self-knowledge  is  all  important,  but  the 
innate  bias  of  self  renders  it  the  most  difficult ;  that  knowl- 
edge is  power,  but  of  little  value  unless  you  utilize  it ;  that 
the  glory  of  power  is  not  in  the  possession  thereof,  but 
rather  in  the  use  thereof  along  the  line  of  moral  purpose,  to 
the  beneficent  end  of  shedding  the  effulgence  of  the  star  of 
progress  over  the  world.  The  weight  of  evidence  in  spiritual 
and  worldly  matters  must  be  respected.  When  you  reach  the 
stream  of  doubt,  do  not  plunge  yourself  headlong  into  the 
howling  waters  of  infinite  inquiry,  but  stand  upon  the  firm 
facts  of  collective  thought,  cross  the  ugly  torrent  upon  the 
bridges  that  have  stood  the  strain  of  ages,  unless  you  have 
constructed  a  stronger  and  safer  one.  You  must  select  some 


ADDRESS.  19 

definite  pursuit,  and  let  it  be  a  rivulet,  ever  in  sight, 
running  its  silver  cord  through  the  valley  of  your  earnest 
efforts  and  unceasing  labors.  Supine  content  buries  hope 
and  absolute  rest  prevents  ascent.  You  should  be  law- 
abiding  and  order  loving.  The  imperative  "necessity  of  right, 
outward  authority,  binding  us  into  organic  connection  with 
other  beings,"  is  the  highest  act  of  intellect — the  highest 
glory  and  the  highest  freedom  of  a  responsible  and  social 
being.  Restrain  the  boastful  spirit  of  the  age — that  self- 
glorification  which  rests  upon  material  progress  alone  ;  for 
the  vastness  of  empire  and  wealth,  subjugation  of  the  latent 
forces  of  nature,  classification  of  animals,  and  their  descent 
traced,  and  ingenuity  of  invention,  cannot  satisfy  conscience 
or  relieve  death  of  its  terrors.  "  The  search  for  causes  in  na- 
ture, when  divorced  from  those  spiritual  verities  which 
minister  to  the  soul's  health,  simply  pushes  away  from 
needy  man  the  bending  heavens  and  hides  the  Cause  of 
Causes  in  the  awful  silence  behind  the  stars."'  Be  conserva- 
tive, but  not  slavish  to  tradition.  True  conservatism  is  the 
desire  and  effort  to  follow  through  all  ages  every  step  along 
the  line  of  progress,  distinguishing  the  enduring  from  the 
perishable  in  human  history,  and  preserving  the  former  as 
the  guide  of  the  present.  Let  your  motto  be  intellectual 
culture  and  liberty  rightfully  employed  ;  culture  harmoni- 
ous with  all  the  relations  of  man  to  God,  man  and  the  world, 
and  liberty  free  from  infringement  upon  that  of  others.  Let 
your  potential  influence  as  educated  men  be  exerted  towards 
keeping  open  the  living  fountains  of  thought.  May  you  be 
lights  of  society  and  pillars  of  government,  ever  scrutinizing 
the  mysteries  ot  the  seen  and  unseen  and  promoting  the 
welfare  of  man,  reaching  a  higher  fruition  than  ever  before 
attained.  May  your  acts  ever  shed  lustre  and  reflect  honor 
upon  your  alma  mater.  May  you  enjoy  to  the  fullest 
measure  "the  sweets  of  friendship,  the  charms  of  literature 
and  the  loveliness  of  virtue." 

May  this  University  live  and  flourish  to  the  end  of  time. 


20  ADDRESS. 

deserving  the  sympathetic  support  of  good  men  and  the 
loving  smile  of  Him  on  high,  and  go  on,  with  unrelaxing 
energy,  to  enlighten  successive  generations,  training  men  in 
true  learning  and  wisdom,  in  all  that  is  manly  and  pure, 
humane  and  generous.  May  the  crystal  clear  waters  of  this 
and  the  other  similar  fountains  of  knowledge  f^ow  on  and 
on  forever,  till  our  country  becomes  one  vast  ocean  of 
wisdom  and  intelligence,  crowning  our  loftiest  hopes  and 
most  dazzling  visions  of  development  and  glory,  with  reali- 
zation complete. 

The  mighty  migrations  of  the  human  races  in  the  order 
of  their  highest  development  respectively:  from  Egypt,  the 
Orient,  Greece,  Rome,  Gaul  and  Britain,  in  the  westward 
march  of  empire,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  were 
some  demoralizing  influences  attending  the  fruits  of  civiliza- 
tion, which  man  had  been  unable  to  resist  in  the  past,  such 
as  the  corruption  and  enervation  of  wealth  and  luxury,  and 
such  as  the  superstitions  and  prejudices  largely  the  result  of 
an  over  boastful  spirit  and  self  content  of  a  people  who 
have  climbed  to  the  highest  round  yet  reached  on  the  ladder 
of  progress  ;  and  that  the  preservation  of  each  civilization 
required  a  fresh  soil  to  plant  its  seed  in  and  rear  aloft  a  still 
higher  growth.  May  the  teachers  of  our  schools  and  col- 
leges, and  the  ambassadors  of  God,  impart  an  intense  love  of 
truth  and  a  deep  sense  of  justice — the  twin  jewels  in  the 
crown  of  an  intelligent  free-agent,  worth  more  than  all  else 
under  the  broad  canopy  of  the  skies — -and  thus  save  our  land, 
even  in  the  distant  future,  from  migrations  therefrom  for 
such  causes. 

The  trite  truths  of  the  past  should  never  be  lost  sight  of 
in  the  glitter  of  the  latest  civilization.  But  such  civilization 
should  perpetually  be  a  text,  a  golden  nail  on  the  venerable 
wall  of  time,  upon  which  to  hang  the  old  trophies  of  long- 
enduring  truths  and  familiar  thoughts,  and  keep  them  free 
from  the  collecting  dust  of  oblivion. 


